Joe Eichler

was a California-based, post-war residential real estate developer known for building homes in the Modernist style. Between 1950 and 1974, his company, Eichler Homes, built over 11,000 homes in Northern California and three communities in Southern California, which came to be known as Eichlers. During this period, Eichler became one of the nation's most influential builders of modern homes.

The San Francisco Bay Area Eichlers are mostly in San Francisco, Marin County, San Mateo County, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and San Jose.  The largest contiguous Eichler development is The Highlands in San Mateo, built between 1956 and 1964. Unlike many developers of the day, Joseph Eichler was a social visionary and commissioned designs primarily for middle-class Americans. One of his stated aims was to construct inclusive and diverse planned communities, ideally featuring integrated parks and community centers.